Essay elevates her mom to award finalist

We published this Jennifer Gish story last week. It didn’t get much play in the newspaper or on timesunion.com. When I e-mailed the mom, Christine Barach, about posting this story to the blog, she agreed to share her daughter’s essay. There’s a link to it after the jump …

By JENNIFER GISH, Staff writer
First published in the Times Union: Tuesday, June 3, 2008

The results of Tyson Foods’ Gold Medal Mom contest will be announced June 18. (Luanne M. Ferris / Times Union)

Of course, Christine Barach cried. What mother wouldn’t?

You’ve got three kids. One of them is a 14-year-old serious gymnast, who practices for at least four hours daily six days a week and runs you all over the state and beyond on weekends heading to meets. Your boys are 12 and 16, and for all intents and purposes, you live in a teenager’s world all the time.

Somehow you work full-time and manage all of this, and even with kids as good as yours, you still put up with eye rolls and snarky comments. You keep an emergency stash of Calgon under your bathroom sink in case you get to one of those “take me away” moments.

And then, one day, you realize that they think more of you than you’d ever imagined.

A couple months ago, 14-year-old Eliza Barach asked her mom Christine for permission to enter her in Tyson Foods’ Gold Medal Mom contest. Because she’s a minor, she needed her mom to sign off on the essay and photo before she sent it.

Christine, who goes by Tina, sat in front of the computer screen reading the essay, tears pooling in her eyes.

“I have been a gymnast since the age of 5. My Mom has always been my biggest supporter. She has given up so much to allow me to follow my dreams. A couple years ago she lost her job. She couldn’t afford my tuition. My coaches offered her a cleaning job. She took it so I could continue. She cleans the gym late at night and never complains. She has never missed a competition of mine. She cheers until her voice is gone not just for me but for all my team as well. My mom does photography and is always taking pictures of me and the team. One year for State Championships she made special shirts with our pictures on the front for the moms to wear. It was so cool. She defines MVP, Most Valuable Parent …”

Barach, who lives in the Elsmere section of Bethlehem, is now one of the 25 national finalists in the contest, with a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Online voting for the winner takes place at http://www.goldmedalmom.com through June 11. The winner will be announced June 18, with each of the 25 finalists getting a gift valued at $300.

Although Barach would love to be sitting beside her daughter who dreams of earning a NCAA gymnastics scholarship at the Olympic games, just knowing her kids appreciate her is enough. She’d rather talk about Eliza’s sacrifices for gymnastics like all the birthday parties she’s missed and tight schedule she keeps than her own. Yet it’s the “gym mom’s” sacrifices that got her into the finals.

Barach sticks around on Wednesday nights to clean World Class Gymnastics in Latham, helping to defray some of the costs of Eliza’s monthly tuition. It’s an arrangement World Class owner, Bobby Piehler, and his wife offered to Barach nearly three years ago when they learned she lost her job in medical management.

Having sat in the stands watching Eliza compete since she was 6, Barach immediately worried about whether she could continue to afford to keep Eliza in the sport, which can cost $5,000 to $6,000 a year including travel and equipment.

She didn’t want Eliza to have to give up on her scholarship dreams. And as a mother, she loved what gymnastics had clearly taught her daughter the need to budget her time so she could keep up with homework, the fact that sometimes life (and gymnastics scoring) isn’t fair, the idea that even when you’re performing as an individual you’re still part of a team.

That’s why she and her husband, Marc, rush around shuttling their boys, Zach and Jordan, to swimming, track or soccer while the other one covered gymnastics practice. That’s why she’ll rearrange things at her Moments In Time photography business to make Eliza’s big meets.

And why for the first few years, she spent every practice in the stands, watching Eliza succeed and fail and being proud regardless.

In Barach’s eyes, “they” are in the finals of Tyson’s contest, looking at a chance to go to Beijing.

“Whether you win or lose, you’ve won because they’ve touched your heart. They make you feel like everything you do is worth it,” Barach says. “She’s really a gold medal kid. I’m not a gold medal mom.”

Jennifer Gish can be reached at 454-5089 or by e-mail at jgish@timesunion.com.

A Real Gold Medalist
Submitted by Eliza BarachMy mom is great.I have been a gymnast since the age of 5. My Mom has always been my biggest supporter. She has given up so much to allow me to follow my dreams. A couple years ago she lost her job. She couldn’t afford my tuition. My coaches offered her a cleaning job. She took it so I could continue. She cleans the gym late at night and never complains.She has never missed a competition of mine. She cheers until her voice is gone not just for me but for all my team as well. My mom does photography and is always taking pictures of me and the team. One year for State Championships she made special shirts with our pictures on the front for the moms to wear. It was so cool. She defines MVP, Most Valuable Parent.I am now a level 10 gymnast and dream of the NCAA. My mom always says whatever my dreams are I can reach them. She always says One day I will go to the Olympics to watch YOU compete. I would love to sit with my mom at the gymnastics Olympic Games to feel the pride knowing that my mom is the Gold Medal Mom.

If there was an event in the Olympics for mothers she would be on that podium with a gold medal. Whether she wins or not my mom is the Gold Medal Mom. I love her so much and this would mean the world to her.

3 Responses

What a great story! So often parents sacrifice so much for kids and it is so nice to see that this little girl took the time to show her mom that she really does appreciate the time and effort to help her accomplish her goals! YAY to both of you!!!

I also think this story reinforces what most parents already know, if some need to remind themselves from time to time.
We get as much out of the ‘sacrifice’ of driving our kids to various events, watching and suffering/enjoying everything along with them. I wouldn’t trade any of the sports experiences my wife and I have had (and will have) with our three boys for anything.

As a parent, I really thought this story was very moving. All of our children’s achievements are reasons for celebration, but none more so than their recognition of the importance of self sacrifice and dedication. What a beautiful story – thanks for sharing.

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